1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



577 



little more, and we are no better off for 

 having sold more glass than was necessary 

 to hold a given quantity of honey. We as 

 bee-keepers are entitled to a fair price for 

 our honey; and if the purchaser imposes the 

 obligation of furnishing him a given quanti- 

 ty of glass in order that we may receive 

 such price, let us perform that obligation 

 cheerfully. We are engaged in a noble and 

 honorable occupation; but in reference to 

 putting up honey for sale by the retailer, 

 while we should all practice frugality, we 

 shall be wise if we teach that virtue only 

 incidentally. 



The 6 oz. tumbler is readily sold to the 

 grocery trade, either directly or through 

 the jobber, at one dollar per dozen. In 

 some markets it would easily bring more; 

 but under no circumstances should it ever 

 be sold for less. To go below that figure is 

 but to demoralize your market and admit 

 that you are "playing horse " with your 

 occupation. Selling at one dollar per dozen 

 the honey will net 12 to 12J cents per pound, 

 after deducting the cost of the tumblers 

 and the packing-cases; and if a pound of 

 good table honey can not be sold for that 

 price, net, put up in such neat attractive 

 form, the fault lies entirely with the sales- 

 man. 



There has been one objection to the jelly- 

 tumbler. As commonly used, the honey 

 had an untidy habit of oozing out of the 

 tumbler, the tin cover not having been made 

 for the purpose of a sealer. For this reason 

 it was not suited for shipment; and, fur- 

 thermore, the tin cover, not fitting tightly 

 enough to exclude the air, the honey would 

 candy. I have overcome both these objec- 

 tions by the use of paraffine paper as an in- 

 side lining to the tin cover. This was first 

 suggested and used by my brother, R. Her- 

 shiser. This inside lining is made by cut- 

 ting circular pieces of the paraffine paper, 

 which, when laid on top of the tumbler, 

 projects about J inch all around. A medium 

 flexible quality of the paper is used, folding 

 it so a dozen or more of the paper linings 

 may be cut with the scissors at one opera- 

 tion. After the tumbler is filled, the paper 

 ij laid on top and the tin lid pressed down 

 over the paper, thus practically sealing it. 

 The filled tumblers are then subjected to a 

 water bath, raising the temperature until 

 the honey has reached about 135 degrees F. 

 Jelly- tumblers so filled and treated will not 

 leak or candy. I make this statement ad- 

 visedly, having never had a complaint from 

 either of these causes. 



There is just one objection to the Mftson 

 jar as a container for supplying the retail 

 trade, and that is a serious one, as above 

 pointed out. It holds too much. The ca- 

 pacity of the pint size is 1 J pounds of honey. 

 These jars cost $5.75 per gross, or 4.8 cents 

 each. Reckoning the cost of the jars and 

 the packing-cases, the goods will have to 

 sell for $3.00 per dozen in order that the 

 bee-keeper or packer may realize 12 cents 

 per pound for his honey, no allowance being 

 made for transportation or breakage. 



Moreover, I have no hesitancy in estimating 

 that any good jobber or other salesman could 

 easily sell over 25 cases of honey in jelly- 

 tumblers to one in pint Mason jars. This 

 jelly-tumbler is the best seller of any and 

 all containers with which I have had any ex- 

 perience. 



The strenuous time of active honey pro- 

 duction is yet some months ahead of us. 

 There is no better time of year to consider 

 how best to dispose of that forthcoming 

 bounteous honey crop about which we are 

 dreaming. Reflection, planning, doing, ef- 

 forts intelligently and properly directed, 

 as to how every pound of that honey may 

 be made to return to the producer its hon- 

 est and true equivalent, will yield to the 

 apiarist many an easily earned dollar. 



Buffalo, N. Y., Jan. 17. 



[As will be seen by the date of this article 

 it should have appeared much earlier; but 

 owing to the fact that our space has been so 

 greatly crowded we have not been able to 

 give it to our readers sooner. 



Mr. Hershiser is a man who goes down 

 deep into things; and those who do not know 

 him as a successful bee-keeper and as a 

 first-class salesman should be told that his 

 communication above is well worth a careful 

 reading. Some of the things that he em- 

 phasizes have been given before, but not all. 



The great bulk of extracted honey that is 

 put up in glass goes mainly into Mason jars 

 and jelly-tumblers, because both of these 

 articles have a value of their own when 

 emptied. 



If Mr. Hershiser's method of heating and 

 sealing in these tumblers will prevent gran- 

 ulation, he has given us something that bee- 

 keepers have been looking for for a long 

 time. —Ed.] 



»»t» — I 



PLAIN SECTIONS VS. BEEWAY SECTIONS. 



Do the Former Run More Uniform in Weight? 

 Dr. MiUer "Jabs" Back at the Editor. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



So you had a chance to " j ab " me again, 

 did you, Mr. Editor, page 1306? Before you 

 jab me some more, please give me the floor 

 for a little while. You say, "Comb honey 

 in beeway sections will vary considerably in 

 weight, while that in plain sections will run 

 much more uniform." I think that was 

 never mentioned till Mr. Crane mentioned it 

 in that same article to which your footnote 

 is attached. If there is difference enough 

 to be noticeable, why did no one ever men- 

 tion it before? Neither is there satisfactory 

 proof in Mr. Crane's case. He has more 

 even sections than formerly, but there may 

 be other reasons than difference in sections. 



I've just been measuring and studying 

 over a li two-beeway section. At top and 

 bottom it measures IJ wide, not differing 

 from Mr. Crane's plain section. (His two- 

 beeway section seems to have measured If, 

 unnecessarily wide.) Keep in mind that 

 Mr. Crane accounts for a difference in re- 



